Card and the like for sequence sorting



GOOOO O4 D. A. lN'EVIN CARD AND THE LIKEIOR SEUENCE SORTING Filed Jan. 28, 1945 Ono. wmm; nw@ Z Feb. 22, 1944.

Patented Feb) 22, 1944 UNETED CARD .1 THE mi? FOR SEQUENCE Donald A. Nevin, mencione Heights, Ghio Application Jimmy 232 t'lft, Soviet No. 75.85@

@L lits- 16M 5 Claims,

provided adjacent to one or more edges rele to the edge of the card, the several portero l on all cards being located so as to coincide one another when the cards are stacked, so by inserting a rod or a so-called "sorting needle" through alined periorations of n set o2 cards, those cards in which the periorations have opened out they he segregated from the remainder er the stack in which coinciding perforations have not been opened out. the separating of groups being enected by lifting the inserted nose die permitting the cut out cards to drop he? a gravity, those not cut out remaining on the needle.

As fully set forth in my izo-pending application, Ser. No. 473,849, nied of even date herewith, there is considerable variation in the position of holes as a group in relation to the edges oi theV card, this being due to the methods of menuiseture.

Frequently the variation in length is as much as inch, especially when cutting the shts which have been perforated according to cord multiples, because when a card is out from such a sheet with -a smaller margin from the holes to the cardedize than is desired, it follows that the adjoining card when separated will have a wider margin from the holes to the card edge than is desired.

It is very important that when the card located in the notching device or key punch e. E.,

that shown in Pat. No. 2,062,155 to Wells Nevin, the perforations should coincide with the vnotching punches otherwise the notches will he onset or cut to one side, resulting in a hoot.- shaped formation which obviously will cause the card to remain on the needle during the sorting operation.

.It is an object of this invention to provide a card with a cut out portion in each o one or more of its margins, said portion being through an' edge in the form of a notch or heli' hole, lsimultane.msly with the perforatlng o! the sortingv holes, this cut out portion serving vas a master locating notch for locating said 'card in a key punch or notching device equipped with o card locator as fully set forth in my said coapplication, 'i',he1eb,\,v to brine the perforations to he notched accurately into alignment with the reces of the not-ching punches.

it is a iurther ohiect 4to provide e card with seid out ont 'portion located outside the ilelds of holes required for sorting close as practieaiole to e, corner oi the cord, and of n minimum width to avoid weakening the card corners or tanins nn excessive card mornin,

A inrther ohgiect is to provide a locating notch in the enrol, punched simultaneously with the rows of holes, said notch shaped preferably as a half circle so that the cost and upkeep of the punches for cutting the notch can he kept to a minimum.

@ne method of sorting the cards consists of grasping o stock oithem in one hand while im sorting the sorting needle inten predetermined hole with the other hand out this is not readily sccompished in practice until the selected holes in nii of the cards which are being operated upon, have heen brought into alignment.

in present practice an approximate alignment is effected by sliding the cards endwlse on a. desk or table top until such motion is limited by the ends of the cards contacting an upright plate such as n bookend, metal block or? similar article. ltirequentlg.`9 a right angled metal plete is furnished to the user, the cards to be placed upon the hase f section and logged to right or left against the upright wall section, and although this results in alignment of the card ends which Contact the plate it does not bring the holes into registration because of the variation in the relation oi' the holes as group to the card edges as previously explained.

l still further object of this invention is to provide means for quickly aligning all of the holes in a group oi cards to he needleI sorted, and my locating notch in the forni of s. wedge shaped slot or half a hole in a corner of each. card may be readily used for this purpose es well as those previously disclosed, by simply placing the group of cards edge downward upon a rod or pencil attached to the top of a desi: or table and then jogging right and left lightly until all cards have settled with their aligning notches resting upon 'the pencil or other implement. in this position all holes will be in alignment and the sorting needie may he readily inserted, even though many o the card edges extend beyond similar edges in the group.

A variation of this method is to place a group of cards edge downward upon a iiat surface and insert an aligning device such as a desk rule into the aligning notch in the top edge of the cards, jogging with a slight twisting motion until all or said notches as well as all periorations are in alignment. y i

My means of accomplishing the foregoing ob=I jects may be more readily understood by reiferu ence to the accompanying drawing which is here unto annexed and forms a part of this speeldcation and in which: V

Fig. 1 is an illustration of a card which has been notched for sequence sorting, showing a form of my invention. v

Fig.- 2 is an illustration oi a somewhat diner ent card printed and perforated in multiples and embodying a preferred form ci my invention.

Fig 3 is an illustration' or a similar card showing a variation from the preferred form of my invention.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the entire specification.

As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, a card, sheet or the like has perforations 2 arranged in rows adiacent and parallel to each edge oi the card and certain of these perforations are notched out to the edge as indicated at'3, 8 and 6l to prepare the card for sorting. The notches at the top in Fig. 1 represent the n umber 566 as fully described in the hereinbefore mentioned patents.

The two notches shown at; illustrate imperrect cuts to one side of the hole, due to locating from the end of the card in the notching punch and as previously explained, to the variation of the position of the holes as -a group in relation to the variable outside dimensions. The notches t 4 illustrate an attempt to overcome this deciency by providing a wide notch which is urr-I desirable because when punched through adjoining holes the pointed tab 4' results and causes trouble when sorting because the tab more readily enters holes in adjoining cards in the stack and it also bends over easily when typing and handling or running through a. counting machine. Wide notches such as shown at 4, if punched at alternate holes as. at opposite sides of tab 5 weaken the tab 5 as illustrated,V causingl it to break or vtear when usedlto elevate cards from the stack by lifting the sorting needle. The two notches 8 are shown asl being cut in line with perforations that ,are shown as being entirely removed. At 1 I have illustrated one form of the locating notches or alignment notches of my invention, the said notches having been cut simultaneously with the perforating'of the sorting holes.

A preferred form of my invention is shown in Fig. 2, which shows asection of a sheet that is to be divided into vfour cards. Each card is provided, as before, withgrows of perforations 2', some of which are opened out to the margin of the card as at Ill, Il, l2 and 13.- It will be noted that the indicia on the lower left-- and upper right cards are on the front face of the iigure, while those ofthe other two cards are 'on the rear face, as previously mentioned.

The notches 'at Il) are or may' be intended to code the multiple number 123; and the notches at I I are or may be further classicajtion notches for the multiple card; those at'i2 are classiilcation notches common to four card units, while those at I3 include groups oi ve slots that will code each of thezfour small cards for the year 1942, after the multiple unit card has been divided into four' cards. The multiple unit may be guillotine cut on printed lines --or cut on a "photo trimmer* by the user, or separated in any asseoir other desirable manner into single or duo forms, etc.

It will be understood that the cards may be printed and perforated in groups of two, four or more. and that like o'r different forms' may be printed on the same or opposite faces of the paper ii desired. Each card may have a corner removed by means of a single punch acting on four cardan: at e, and/or separate punches may be provided to remove other individual corners.

In the preferred form of my invention, as shown in Fig. 2, round holes it, i5 are cut at the meeting line of sides or ends of pairs of each by means of round punches, said holes preferably being larger than the sorting holes 2'. Other symmetrical forms may be used but round holes, as at i4,i5 and semicircular notches, as at 8 can be made inexpensively by means of round punches or pins like those used for the sorting holes, while the coacting die openings may be merely holes drilled in the coacting die base. Half circular cuts in the cards are eilective for locating a card in a key punch, and permit the use of a single inexpensive round or half round locating pin for this purpose; but it will be understood that locating slots and locating devices of other shapes may be used.

In the modiiied form of the invention shown in Fig. 3, the card is provided with sorting holes 2" along its margins and may be generally asl above described,but has locating notches I6 at its sides or ends or both, these notches being shown as more deeply indented and narrower than the notches 8, while being less deeply indented and narrower than notches l, but more regular in outline.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many changes may be made in the inveni tion, all without departing from the spirit thereof; therefore I do not limit myself to what is shown in the drawing and described in the speciilcation, but only as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is:

'1. A stack of cards each provided along an edge with a row of equally spaced perforations of equal size so arranged as to be adapted to register with perforations in the other cards of the stack and adapted to be slotted out to the adjacent edge of the card, and a notch in an edge of each card, the notches in all the cards of the stack being similarly located and being identically distant in each card from corresponding perforations in said row.

2. In a card classifying system of the character described, a plurality of cards, each card being provided adjacent one or more of its edges with a row of evenly spaced perforations, certain perforations of one or more of said cards relating to a particular classication desired being opened out to the adjacent edge, an alignment notch formed in a perforated edge of each of the cards in the same location in each card relative to similarly located perforations of said rows, whereby all of the cards may be positioned with their perforations in registration when they are arranged in a stack, regardless of misalignment oi their similar edges, by bringing said notches into operative relation with aligning means having a straight edge.

3. A stack of cards for classification purposes, each card provided 'with one or more rows of coded eperforations adjacent one or more edges oi' the card, certain predetermined perforations slotted to an edge referring to a single classi- .ication, one or more locating notches in the form of a half circle cut into one or more edses of each card and in a location common to all of the cards in the stack, each homologous notch being in identical relation in each card of the stack to homologous perforations of said rows regardless of the distance of said locating notches from certain of the card edges, said locating notches providing means for accurately loc-ating the 'cards upon an alignment device, whereby cards with similarly slotted openings may be separated from the stack of aligned cards by inserting a sorting needle through the aligned perforations that include the similarly slotted perfor-ations. y

4. In a card classifying system, a stack of cards which may vary in outside dimensions, each card provided with a series ofcoded per-4 forations adjacent one or more edges, certainv predetermined perforations .in said series being slotted to an adjacent edge and referring to a single classication, certain other predetermined perforations being slotted to represent additional single classiilcations, a locating notch cut into a corner of each card said notches being identically positioned in each card with relation to homologous perforations in the respective cards, said notches providing means for accurately locating the cards in a device for slotting perforations for said single classiiications, also for 5 subsequently cutting additional slots according to future requirements for other classifications, and also for locating the cards upon an alignment device to facilitate the insertion of a separating needle whereby cards with @similarly slotted openings may be separated from the stack of aligned cards by elevating said needle while permitting cards having similarly slotted openings to fall from the stack.

5. A stack of cards or the like in which each 15 individual member has one or more holes adjacent an edge, said holes being adapted to register with similarly positioned holes of the other members of the stack, some of said holes being slotted out to the adjacent edge, and each mem- 20 ber also having in a corresponding edge thereof a similarly located and similarly shaped indentation, whereby said cards may be positioned with their holes in registry by bringing the said notches into operative relation with alining 25 means having a straight edge.

DONALD A. NEVIN. 

